Week 43
Yesterday morning we had the biggest news of the week as a magnitude 5.6 earthquake woke us up at 7:03 am.  It was centered in Pawnee--32 miles north east of Stillwater.  It was the strongest earthquake we've ever experienced (and the largest magnitude in Oklahoma history).  I don't know which was more startling, the loud rumbling or the quaking. It lasted at least 90 seconds, maybe a little longer, and we were grateful later to learn there wasn't really any damage in Stillwater.  (Our neighbors upstairs said their pictures fell off the walls.)  It was felt as far south as Dallas, TX, and north to Nebraska.  In Pawnee, groceries were thrown off shelves and several buildings were damaged, but there was only one injury, and it was minor.  It's quite interesting to hear something you just experienced announced on the national news. (FYI--our alarm is set for 5:30 am all week, so we were enjoying our sleep-in on Saturday.  Maybe the quake was a message to us!)

Damage in Pawnee

I guess it was the week for nature to make herself known, as Eric and Emily in North Carolina had a tree in their backyard struck by lightening.

Today our grandson Sebastian is being baptized in Germantown, MD.  We hate not being there, but are so proud of him.

Back to more mundane events, FHE this week was water balloon volleyball--Elder Kerr was the scorekeeper and water balloon distributor.

We had rain on and off early in the week, but Wednesday it really came down.  Unfortunately, the missionaries were on campus with their booth.  They really got drenched--pretty much soaked to the skin by the time they got to the institute building.  Elder Richardson didn't want to put wet socks back on, so he tried drying them over the toaster:

Hoping for the best

Well, that didn't seem to be working, so a while later we smelled smoke--he had put the socks right on the toaster, and they started melting!  We all had a good laugh at his "holy socks."

On Friday night the Boomer Blast was held (fireworks at Boomer Lake).  It was postponed from July 4th because there had been too much rain then.  We didn't participate in the Trucks and Tunes part (food trucks and bands) that began earlier, but we found the perfect spot for viewing a really spectacular fireworks display.  

Saturday was the opening football game of the season at OSU.  The population of Stillwater almost doubles on game day.  We just drove around the periphery because it's so amazing to see.  Tailgate tents as far as you can see, orange and black everywhere, and just a festive atmosphere.  I hate to add that much of that atmosphere is fueled by beer--these folks would be shocked to learn how much fun you can have completely sober; guess they've never tried it.

We had excellent classes this week.  Our institute students really love the gospel and are hungry to learn--that makes for wonderful discussions.